“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

Jesus tells us why he came to earth – “to seek and save the lost.”

• Want to follow Jesus? – seek and reach lost people.
• Want to grow and mature as a follower of Jesus? – seek and reach lost people.
• Want to be a part of God’s kingdom ministry? – seek and reach lost people.
• Want to know the joy of being a part of something that is impacting the eternal destinies of people? – seek and reach lost people.
• Want to see your church grow? – seek and reach lost people.
• Want to see God working in your community? – seek and reach lost people.
• Want to see blessing families and marriages? – seek and reach lost people.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

If you follow Jesus – seek and reach lost people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

God’s plan for the church of Jesus Christ? – for the church to seek and reach lost people.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

What does it mean to be transformed by the renewing of your mind? How do we go about renewing our mind?

The text makes it clear that having a renewed and renewing mind is to the key to:

• not conform to the pattern of this world
• having the ability to test and approve what God’s will is

The word for conform means to be shaped/molded. Imagine an artist conforming/shaping/molding metal or clay into shape by applying pressure to make a particular image. Paul says that the world is constantly conforming/shaping/molding us into its pattern. The world pressures followers of Jesus to think like, act like, and speak like everyone else in the world.

The Apostle Paul tells us not to be conformed into the pattern of this world. Instead we are to have renewed and renewing minds. So, we are back to the original question: How do we go about renewing our mind? We renew our mind by letting God’s truth revealed through God’s word conform/shape/mold us. We do this by submitting to God’s word.

What does that look like when God’s word conforms/shapes/molds us?

Being shaped by God’s word doesn’t mean that we only think about Christian things. Being shaped by God’s word means that we learn to think about everything from a Christian perspective – we start to see everything through the lens of God’s word.

Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world. Instead, God’s word is to shape and mold us into the pattern of Christ.

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:3).

“You show that you are a letter from Christ…”

You are the Bible that an unbeliever will read. Before a non-believer ever picks up the Bible to see what it has to say about God’s love and grace, God’s plan for the world and salvation, about how much God loves sinners that he died for sinner…before anyone ever picks up the Bible to read this for themselves, they are reading Christians.

They look at how we treat others. They are watching how Christians speak about people when they are not present. They are watching Christians interacting with the wait staff at a restaurant. They are watching how we treat our homeless neighbors. They are watching how Christians deal with difficult people.

Our behavior and our interactions, for good or bad, impact the way unbelievers think about Jesus.

Because, before they ever read about Jesus in the Bible, they are reading Christians.

So, what do our letters say about Jesus?